Apparatus for forming pile fabric



April 5, 1955 E. D. LACEY 2,705,465*

APPARATUS FOR FORMING PILE FABRIC original Filed Apri1'4, 1950 4 sheets-sheet 14 E gni v' /)ll ze JNVENTOR.

EDWARD D. LACE? MM MM A T TURA/EK? April 5, 1955 E. D. L AcEY 2,705,465

APPARATUS FOR F'ORMING PILE FABRIC Original Filed April 4, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 6 RH M mM. JWM @l mw 4 A M M M f m M W 4 m W z ma o l 3 4 .,vvwuuuwua MW n v April 5, 1955 E. D. LACEY APPARATUS RoR RoRMING PILE FABRIC original Filed April 4, 195o 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 MMJ @RWA ATTORNEY-'S APll 5, 1955 E. D. LAcEY 2,705,465

" APPARATUS FOR FORMING PILE FABRIC Original Filed April 4, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 'gs fan/A Ro ZEZo-r BY @nafta/J HAL/ML United States Patent O APPARATUS FOR FORMING PILE FABRIC Edward D. Lacey, Fairmount, Ga., assignor to Russell- Lacey Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Georgia Original application April 4, 1950, Serial No. 153,928, now Patent No. 2,662,227, dated December 15, 1953. Divided and this application September 11, 1952, Serial No. 311,440

3 Claims. (Cl. 112--79) This invention relates to pile fabrics of the type having pile tufts inserted in a fabric base, and more particularly to a pile fabric of this sort in which pile tufts are provided in the form of loops and a pile surface is formed on both faces of the fabrc base, and to a .method and means for forming the same. This is a division o f my copending application Serial No. 153,928, filed April 4, 1950, now Patent No. 2,662,227, granted December 15, 1953.

It has long been common practice to form pile fabrics, usually referred to as chenille, by inserting doubled portions of a pile yarn through a fabric base and cutting the extending ends of the inserted yarn portions to form a surface of chenille ends on one face of the fabric base. In some cases, too, the inserted yarn portions have been left uncut so that a pile surface of loops was formed instead, although this practice has always had the serious objection of leaving the continuous pile yarn used 'in forming the loops unsevered so that the loops were interconnected and were accordingly easily subject to objectionable unraveling if any portion of the continuous pile yarn was caught and pulled away from the fabric base.

More recently pile fabrics have been developed as disclosed in U. S. Patents 2,482,682 and 2,482,683 to Moore, in which pile tufts are inserted in a fabric base in a unique manner so that a pile surface is provided on both faces of the fabric base, by inserting the doubled yarn portions to form loops on one face and cutting the pile yarn in spaced relation to the other face to form chenille ends. i

In accordance with the present invention a pile fabric of this same general type is provided in which a pile surface of loops is formed on both faces of .the fabric base in a manner which obviates the difficulties heretofore encountered with unraveling, and which accordingly provides a pile fabric that is equally as serviceable as those disclosed in the above noted Moore patents and that has the further advantage of allowing exactly duplicate pile patterns to be produced on each face of the fabric base. Briefly described, this result is accomplished according to the present invention by inserting the doubled pile yarn portions at closely spaced intervals in the fabric base so that a random entanglement and interlocking of adjacent loops is obtained as the pile fabric is formed which effectively prevents later withdrawal of the continuous pile yarn to unravel the loops.

The pile fabric of the present invention and the method and means by which i't is" formed are described in further detail below in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a plan view of a pile fabric rug formed in accordance with the present invention having both faces covered with loops;

Fig. 2 is a plan View representing a variation of the rug shown in Fig. l, having sections of double loops alternating with sections of double chenille;

Figs. 3 and 4 are enlarged sectional details talen substantially along the lines 3 3 and 4-4 in Figs. l and 2, respectively; h

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are fragmentary details illustrating the 2,705,465 Patented Apr. 5, 1955 manner in which the loops are formed in producing a pile fabric in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 8 is an elevation of a tufting machine adapted for forming a pile fabric according to the present invention; and

Figs. 9 and l0 are left and elevational views of the machine shown in Fig. 8, illustrating further the arrangement of the loop-forming mechanism.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, and more particularly at first to Fig. 1, a reversible pile fabric rug formed in accordance with the present invention is shown, as indicated generally by the reference numeral 10, with pile surfaces of loops arranged on both of its faces as at 12 and 14. The nature of the loops forming the pile surfaces 12 and 14 is further illustrated in Fig. 3 in which successive doubled portions of a continuous pile yarn strand 16 are inserted through a fabric base 18 to form loop 20 extending from one face of the fabric base 18. Between the successive inserted loops 20, the continuous pile yarn 16 is trained in relation to the opposite face of the fabric base 18 to form bighfs or loops extending from this other face as at 22. The loops 20 are inserted in the fabric base 18 contiguously in rows so that a random entanglement and interlocking of at least the trained loops 22, and of the inserted loops 20 to some extent too, occurs as the pile fabric 10 is formed which results in effectively preventing withdrawal of the continuous pile yarn 16 from the fabric base 18 after the loops 20 and 22 are formed, as will appear more in detail presently.

It will be noted that formation of the loops 20 and 22 in the manner just described above arranges theni to form exactly duplicate pile patterns on both faces 12 and 14 of the pile fabric rug 10, and this feature of the present invention may be employed advantageously as illustrated in Fig. 2 to obtain modified pile patterns in which pile surface portions of chenille ends as at 24 may be arranged alternatively with pile surface portions of loops as at 26, and with the pile surface patterns on each face of the pile fabric rug 10 shown in Fig. 2 still maintained as exact duplicates. Such alternate pile surface portions of chenille ends 24 may be formed by means such as is shown in U. S. Patent 2,482,647 to Bradwell and Brock. Fig. 4 shows an enlarged illustration of this modified arrangement of the pile fabric rug 10 in which the chenille ends forming the pile surface portions 24 are indicated at 28, and the inserted and trained loops forming the pile surface portions 26 are indicated at 20 and 22', respectively.

The method of forming a reversible pile fabric rug in accordance with the present invention is illustrated in Figs. 5, 6, and 7 of the drawing, in which a suitable work support as at 30, and an associated presser foot 32, are shown arranged to dispose the fabric base 18 for insertion of doubled portions of the continuous pile yarn 16 by a reciprocating needle 34 to form the inserted loops 20 on each downstroke. Lower loopers as at 36 and 38 are arranged below the work support 30 to take each doubled pile yarn portion after insertion by the needle 34 and hold the resulting inserted loop 20 at a determined length against withdrawal as the reciprocating needle 34 is withdrawn on its upstroke. With the inserted loops 20 held in this manner, the upstroke of the reciprocating needle 34 results in extending the continuous pile yarn 16 upwardly from the other face of the fabric base 18, and a lateral looper 40 is arranged above the work support 30 to train the loops 22 from this face.

The lateral looper 40 is shown in Fig. 5 at its farthest retracted position holding a trained loop 22, taken from the needle 34 during its previous cycle of operation, against withdrawal and at a predetermined length during the downstroke of the needle 34 to insert the next succeeding loop 20. It will be noted that this lateral looper 40 operates to pull each trained loop 22 to a position extending laterally from the fabric base 18 toward the trained loops 22 already formed. This lateral pulling of the trained loops 22 results in stretching them taut which has a tendency to remove the twist temporarily from the yarn portion forming the trained loop 22, so that upon release the trained loop 22 tends to snap back from its taut position as it regains its twist, which has the further effect of inducing a pronounced curl in the trained loops 22, and because these loops 22 are extended laterally toward the previously formed trained loops 22 as they are formed, the random entanglement of each trained loop 22 as it is released with the previously trained loops 22 is made possible.

In the event that a given trained loop 22 does not become entangled with the previously trained loops 22 as it is released, the manner in which it snaps back to regain its twist after release may further result in disposing it in the path of the needle 34 so that it becomes interlocked with a succeeding trained loop 22 as the needle 34 passes through the fabric base 18 to insert a succeeding double portion of the pile yarn 16. The resulting entanglement of. trained loops 22 as just described above is illustrated in Fig. 3 at E, and interlocking of the trained loops 22 at I, and it will be seen that this entanglement and interlocking of the trained loops 22 as they are formed effectively prevents withdrawal of the continuous pile yarn 16 from the pile fabric rug 10.

The release of each trained loop 22 takes place as the lateral looper 40 moves forward, as illustrated in Fig. 6. toward the needle 34 from its retracted position to take and form the next succeeding trained loop 22. This forward movement of the lateral looper 40 takes place during'the upstroke of the needle 34, so that it passes the needle 34 and is in position to pass beneath the needle 34 and take the pile yarn strand 16 at about the time the needle 34 reaches the top of its stroke as illustrated in Fig. 7. The arrangement and operation of a lateral looper 40 of this sort is described in detail and claimed in the copending application of W. V. Williams, Serial No, 153,959 filed April 4, 1950, now U. S. Patent No. 2,625,125, issued January 13, 1953, to which reference is made for further details.

The arrangement of a machine in accordance with the present invention for forming pile fabric rugs as described above, is illustrated in Figs, 8, 9, and 10, and as shown includes the previously mentioned work support 30 and associated presser foot 32, and the reciprocating needle 34. the lower loopers 36 and 38, and the lateral looper 40. all of which may suitably be arranged in multiples as illustrated,

The reciprocating needles 34 are arranged in a needlehead 42 formed at the extending end of an overhanging arm portion 44 of an upstanding stock 46 mounted at the rear portion of the work support 30. A drive shaft 48 is supported longitudinally in the overhanging arm portion 44 and carries the usual hand wheel 50 and driving sheave 52. The reciprocating needles 34 are carried in the needlehead 42 by a needle bar 54. which has a mounting block 56 at its lower end for the needles 34, and which is reciprocated in the usual manner from a crank plate 53 arranged at the forward end of the drive shaft 48.

The lateral looper 40 is carried at the lower end of a supporting bar 60, which is mounted on the needlehead 42 in a support bracket 62 for rocking and oscillating movement as described in the previously mentioned copending Williams application. The rocking motion of the support 60 results in moving the lateral looper 40 toward and away from the needles 34 to take and form the trained loops 22, and the oscillating movement shifts the extending end of the lateral looper 40 sufficiently in a transverse direction to clear the needle 34 as it moves forward to loopforming position.

Suitable feed dogs 64 are also arranged on the work support 30 below the presser foot 32 for advancing the fabric base 18 through the machine as the doubled portions of the continuous pile yarn 16 are inserted, and these feed dogs are operated according to the present invention in timed relation with the reciprocation of the needles 34 so that the doubled portions of the continuous pile yarn 16 are inserted with a spacing substantially less than the length of the inserted loop 20 and trained loops 22 so that the random entanglement and interlocking of these loops is characteristically obtained.

I claim:

1. A machine of the character described for forming a reversible pile fabric having loops extending from each face thereof, said machine comprising a reciprocating needle for inserting successive doubled portions of a continuous pile yarn in a fabric base to form loops extending from one face of said fabric base, a work support arranged for disposing said fabric base for insertion of said doubled pile yarn portions by said needle, means associated with said work support for advancing said fabric base thereacross so that said doubled pile yarn portions are successively inserted to form said loops in a row, means for taking from said needle and holding each inserted pile yarn portion against withdrawal, training means for taking said continuous pile yarn from said needle between insertions and forming loops on the opposite face of said fabric base, said training means being oscillated laterally toward and away from said reciprocating needle in alignment with trained loops already formed for taking and pulling each trained loop taut while held in the direction in which said fabric base is advanced across said work support by saidV associated means and for releasing each tautly trained loop before commencing the training of a succeeding trained loop, and said associated means being operated for advancing said fabric base across said work support in timed relation to the reciprocation of said needle at a rate such that said doubled pile yarn portions are inserted in said fabric base with a spacing substantially less than the length of the inserted and trained loops' formed.

2. A machine of the character described for forming a reversible pile fabric, said machine comprising a reciprocating needle for inserting successive doubled portions of a continuous pile yarn at spaced intervals in a fabric base to form loops extending from one face thereof, a work support adapted for disposing said fabric base for insertion of said doubled pile yarn portions by said needle, means associated with said work support for advancing said fabric base thereacross so that said doubled pile yarn portions are successively inserted to form said loops in a row, means for taking from said needle and holding each inserted loop against withdrawal as said needle is withdrawn from said fabric base, training means disposed above said work support. for taking said continuous pile yarn from said needle between insertions and forming loops extending from the opposite face of said fabric base and for holding said trained loops against diminution as the next succeeding doubled pile yarn portion is inserted, said training means being oscillated laterally away from and toward said reciprocating needle for pulling taut, in the direction in which said fabric base is advanced across said work support by said associated means, of trained loops already each trained loop while held and for releasing each tautly trained loop before commencing the training of the next succeeding trained loop, and said associated means being operated for advancing said fabric base across said work support in timed relation to the reciprocation of said needle at a rate such that said doubled pile yarn portions are linserted in said fabric base with a spacing substantially less than the length of the inserted and trained loops formed.

3. A machine of the character described for forming a reversible pile fabric, said machine comprising a reciprocating needle for inserting successive doubled portions of a continuous pile yarn at spaced intervals in a fabric base to from loops extending from one face thereof, a work support adapted for disposing said fabric base for insertion of said doubled pile yarn portions by said needle, means associated with said work support for advancing said fabric base thereacross so that said doubled pile yarn portions are successively inserted to form said loops in a row, means for taking from said needle and holding each inserted loop at a uniform predetermined length against withdrawal as said needle is Withdrawn from said fabric base, training means for taking said continuous pile yarn from said needle between insertions and forming loops extending from the opposite face of said fabric base and for holding said trained loops at a uniform predetermined length against diminution as the next succeeding doubled pile yarn portion is inserted, said last mentioned means being oscillated laterally toward and away from said needle for pulling taut each trained loop while it is held to a position extending laterally in the direction in which said fabric base is advanced on said work support by said associated means and for releasing each tautly trained loop before training of a succeeding trained loop is commenced, whereby each trained loop is held clear of said needle as the next succeeding doubled pile yarn portion is inserted and whereby upon release each trained loop has a tendency for random entanglement with trained loops already formed or interlocking with later formed trained loops, and said associated means for advancing said fabric base across said Work support in timed relation to the reciprocation of said needle at a rate such that said doubled pile yarn portions are inserted in said fabric base with a spacing substantially less than the length of the inserted and trained loops formed whereby said random UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,907,292 Gladsh May 2, 1933 2,411,268 Hamrick Nov. 19, 1946 2,482,683 Moore Sept. 20, 1949 2,625,125 Williams Jan. 13, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 534,168 Great Britain Feb. 28, 1941 

